PONTIAC -- Members of the Downtown Business Association voted Wednesday night to oppose the demolition of the Phoenix Center.

"The Pontiac Downtown Business Association goes on record in opposition to the demolition of the Pontiac Phoenix Center," the motion, passed in a close vote, said.

The demolition plans for the Phoenix Center are being challenged in a lawsuit by the Ottawa Towers office buildings that are adjacent to the parking garage and amphitheater.

The motion also urges the city and Oakland County "to resolve the legal issues involved in a lawsuit over the demolition, with the recognition of the property rights of all affected citizens and businesses, and with a long-term plan for the parking needs of downtown Pontiac."

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The motion represents the first time the association's full membership has voted, said Glen Konopaskie, president of the Downtown Business Association.

Mayor Leon Jukowski, a proponent of demolishing the parking garage, said: "We understand four people were brought (to Wednesday's meeting) by the person who is spearheading this, paid their dues and voted."

Almost a year ago, the association's board stated a position on the Phoenix Center's fate that's 180 degrees away.

Its board released a statement last June that said "we're supporting the master plan for downtown, which the Downtown Development Authority designed and City Council approved in 2009 -- which showed the Phoenix Center no longer in place," said Konopaskie.

Last summer, Emergency Manager Lou Schimmel announced plans to tear down the Phoenix Center at a cost of about $2 million, saying the demolition would save the city $8.1 million in repairs and upkeep over 10 years and $160,000 per year in insurance costs.

The Ottawa Towers' lawsuit contends that the demolition would take away the office buildings' parking, violate easement rights and damage the structures. The suit asks for $9 million in damages if a demolition takes place.

Oakland County Circuit Judge Michael Warren granted a preliminary injunction in the case on Nov. 30.

"It's on a very long, tedious path, with depositions going on," Schimmel said of the lawsuit.

In October, the structure went dark and the stretch of Orchard Lake Road running underneath was closed when copper scrappers did an estimated $276,000 in damage to the parking garage's electrical system.

The Ottawa Towers have restored lighting on the parking deck's south side, where their tenant parks, using power from the office buildings.

The city's $2 million contract with Adamo Demolition Co. hasn't been signed due to the litigation.

The Downtown Business Association's Konopaskie said there needs to be more information shared about the Phoenix Center.

"This is a very complex issue, and the comments made during the discussion show that the entire issue isn't understood," he said.

Blair McGowan, owner of The Crofoot, said the demolition would create a parking shortage downtown.

"There's no parking downtown," McGowan said, in the event Lot 9 is developed and the Phoenix Center is demolished. "We'd have to build a new parking structure at $15,000 a space (plus) land acquisition. We'd have to rebuild the Phoenix Center."

McGowan said the Ottawa Towers are the primary issue, more so than future plans for reconnecting Saginaw Street.

"The most important issue is the Ottawa Towers, and (their) viability as the least expensive real estate in all of Oakland County," he said. "It's a half-million square feet."

The office buildings "will someday house 1,500 to 2,000 employees who will be paying Pontiac income tax, and that could raise $3 million to $7 million of funds for the city each and every year," he said.